01/21/2026
One of my favorite passages in all of Scripture is Hosea chapter two. It became the living word of God over me when God led me into a two-year season of wilderness (July 2008–July 2010), where everything I held dear was about to be stripped away.
In that season, my mother-in-law died, leaving my father-in-law completely untethered, and done with life. In addition to those traumas, my own mother was rapidly declining. And if all of that wasn’t enough to bring me to complete brokenness, after raising and homeschooling my children, I was became an empty nester.
In Hosea 2, God takes Israel into the wilderness and hems her in; not to destroy her, but to prove her. I entered the 2 hardest years of my spiritual journey. What I wouldn’t realize until later is that I entered as an orphan, but emerged as a daughter and a bride.
(If you want all the details of that season, it’s in my first book : )
When we walk through hard times, we often interpret them as punishment from God, or as evidence of some failure in ourselves. This leads us to question both His goodness and our worth.
But what if…
This is not punishment, but proving.
Not destruction, but refinement.
Not retribution for a downfall, but preparation with purpose.
Not suffering for correction, but testing for strength, endurance, and the confirmation that you are exactly who He says you are.
There are seasons in the life of every believer. And in those seasons, we have a choice: to grow angry with God and shut down our hearts, or to allow the season to carve us out, to prove us.
Prayer: Lord, forgive me for every place I have judged You as anything less than perfect Love, faithfulness, and goodness. I choose to turn my eyes and my heart back to You. I will cling to You in every season. Amen.
“Who is that coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved?” Song of Solomon 8:5a